The Gypsy
"The Gypsy" is the 27th episode of Once Upon a Virus. Summary Rena wishes to prove his worth to the group with magic, but he could unintentionally lead them into a deadly situation. Meanwhile, a group of survivors is established in Storywik, and the search for Joanna's hidden army proves successful. And in the Wikia world of the past, Rena Charming is taught magic by his mother, ElleBraxton, whose sorcery has caused her and her family to be expelled from society, living as gypsies. Plot "Washington is so far away," Liz is saying from the backseat of Joe's car, "Can we even drive all the way there?" "We can try," Joe says from the driver's seat while, in the seat next to him, Rena is flaring his hand and whispering to himself. "Dad," says Joe, "What… are you doing?" "One second," Rena utters, shaking his fist, "I'm trying… to make… a… yes!" he exclaims as a weak fireball flares up in his hand… for about two seconds before dying out completely. "Um… fire in a car isn't a great idea," Liz points out, "Unless you wanna explode." "I'm sorry, I just wanna be able to make this work. Be useful," Rena tells them. "You are useful," Joe assures him, "But right now we need to focus on getting to DC in time." Suddenly, the radio crackles, turning on by itself, and Joanna's voice begins to come out of it: "People of America, there is a dimensional pocket somewhere in this measly country that I want you to find. Inside this pocket… is my glory. You are all to begin searching immediately, and transmit me the information once it is found." (see "Happy Birthday, Ms. President") The live address then ends, and Liz wonders what she means by her "glory". Joe replies that, whatever it is, he doubts it's a good thing, and he guesses he's going to need to hit the gas. They go faster down the road, while Rena continues to mutter to himself, failing to create anything in his palm but mere flickers. Over in the Whitehouse, Joanna is sitting cross-legged on the couch in a sort of meditation position when Selena walks in, saying that she has a fresh batch of admirers for her mistress. "Good," Peep says, "I need to expand my powers. Come in!" With that, five presidential workers, two women and three men, enter the room, standing in a line in front of their leader. She motions her arm forward, and pulls. Lights drift from these people's chests, and they explode bloodily as the lights dart out of them, into Joanna, adding to her magic. "I shall clean up this mess immediately, oh-most-gracious one!" DavidTennantismyAngel exclaims, but Peep tells her not to, reminding her that she is a Blood Wiccan; "It shall merely enhance me." She takes back up her meditation position, and closes her eyes, allowing her consciousness to drift into people all round America. "The dimensional pocket must be somewhere," she says, "One of these apes must see it. And when they do, I shall sense it." "Your power really is glorious," Selena comments in awe. "Telling me things I'm already aware of is futile. Why has this mess not been cleaned up yet?" David nods and rushes out of the room. Joe's white car stops outside a gas station and he gets out in order to pump in the gasoline. Rena and Liz sit silently in the meantime, and when Joe heads inside to pay, Rena sighs and gets out, deciding that he needs some fresh air. "Check on the weapons in the trunk while you're out there," Liz tells him, looking behind herself, "I can't see my sword from here." Rena obliges, opening the trunk, and assures the former Chat Moderator that her sword is indeed safe… and then he sees something else. He picks it up, and Liz asks, "Is that a spell book?" "I believe so…" Rena says, flicking through it, "What's it doing in here?" "Probably one of Silvia's," Liz realizes, "Left behind from when you were using Joe's car to make trips to the library for your magic lessons." "I wonder if there's anything useful in here that I can use against Joanna…" Rena ponders. "Do you know much about working spell books?" Liz wonders, to which Rena replies, "I have some experience." Rena Charming's mother, ElleBraxton, is seen trying to teach her young son magic from a spell book. They are inside a thatch trailer in the woods, and it is clear that Rena is failing to grasp what his mother is trying to teach him. "I'm hopeless…" the young man utters, but Elle puts the book to one side and crouches down to talk to him face-to-face, assuring him otherwise; "Magic is a complicated thing to grasp. It took me years to perfect my ancient powers. But so long as you remain true to yourself and manage to find and emanate your inner-peace… you can do anything. Just close your eyes, and focus." "What kind of spell should I focus on?" Rena wonders. "It doesn't matter," Elle assures him, "Just… block everything out. Allow your ancestors' blood to flow through your veins." Rena closes his eyes in an attempt to find his "inner-peace"… but all that's interrupted when a hail of pebbles is thrown at the trailer. Rena's eyes spring open, and Elle stands up in order to look out the window. She sees the village children with rocks in their hands, throwing them at the trailer, but as soon as they see her they drop the rocks and run for it. "Mom…" Rena utters, causing his mother to turn to him, "Why do we live like this…?" "Like what, sweetheart?" Elle wonders. "Like… gypsies," he says, "We used to have a real home… now everyone hates us… makes fun of his… throws stones…" "That's because they're scared," Elle tells him. "Why are they scared?" Rena wants to know. "Because," she says, "We have magic… and they don't. Ever since the Evil Bureaucrat took over… magic hasn't exactly been seen as a good thing by this Wiki. They fail to remember all the good it can bring." "Like what?" "Like," she says, crouching back down with a smile on her face, tickling his nose, "Inner-peace. Now, focus." Rena closes his eyes and continues. Rena is sitting in the car, flicking through the spell book, when Joe returns from paying, getting back into the driver's seat. "I think I've found something that could be of use," Rena reveals. "Where did that come from?" Joe wonders, in regards to the book, and Rena explains that he found it in the trunk, adding that it contains a spell that will make you go unnoticed by onlookers. "So… an invisibility spell?" Liz asks. "Not quite," Rena says, "It's sort of… filters one's perception." "What does that mean?" Joe says. "People will see us, but they'll just sort of take no notice. So long as we don't draw any attention to ourselves," Rena explains. "Right…" says Joe, "And this of use, because…?" "We can use it to slip past anywhere. Whitehouse guards… Joanna…" "That's great," Joe tells him, "When we actually make it to DC. She's ages away." However, the radio turns itself on again, and Peep tells the nation: "People of America… the dimensional pocket has been located in Faneuil Hall of Boston, Massachusetts… your search is over… I shall be coming to investigate it." "What were you saying?" Rena asks, smiling. Josh, Justine and Dlr are in the same building, with the two women sitting down and talking while Josh stands guard, scythe in hand. Suddenly, he hears a man screaming, and watches as one of the citizens of Storywik goes running down the street, being chased by a bunch of hungry zombies. The girls hear this too and stand up, with Justine putting a hand on her gun. "He's a goner…" Josh utters. "What do you mean? You aren't gonna go help him?" Justine asks, approaching her father. "How can I?" he wonders. "But we have to! Otherwise… what's the point?" she wonders in turn. Josh just continues to stand there, and Justine looks appalled, grabbing her gun and running outside after the zombies. Dlrgirl75 follows her mistress, and the two of them chase after the pack, shooting after it. Justine manages to kill a good two zombies, and she looks proud of herself, turning a corner. The man being chased reaches a dead end, and the zombies are about to pounce on him. "No…" Justine utters from where she stands, completely unable to help in time. "We're too late…" she adds. However, a flurry of black smoke appears between the zombies and the man, and Josh is beheading them all quickly with his scythe, burning others with his fireball. Eventually, the dozen or so zombies are all dead, and Justine rushes towards her father, Dlrgirl trailing behind. "Thank you…" the scared man says. "My pleasure," Josh assures him, smiling genuinely. But then, a flurry of pink-purple smoke appears next to the man, and Primadonna Girl stands there. "You think you can protect them, Reg?" she asks, "You're wrong." And then she splays her hand in a specific fashion, and the man screams as he turns to dust as a result of her magic. "No!" Justine yells as she continues running toward the scene. "Bye, sweetie," Prima says, blowing her daughter a kiss before teleporting out of there. Justine begins to cry, and Dlr places a hand on her shoulder in an attempt at comforting her. "What is the point?" the beautiful blonde whispers to herself. "The point is survival," Josh says, hearing her, "We need to band together all the survivors. Form a group. We have to live together… if we don't… we'll end up dying alone." Joe is busy driving to the nearby city of Boston while Rena is working on enacting the spell he found in Silvia's spell book. "Any day now would be great, dad, Joanna's already on her way," Joe points out. "I know," says Rena, "I just need to focus." Rena's focus is interrupted when Joe honks his horn at the driver in front of him, but said driver pays no heed. "Ugh, it's like I'm invisible to this jerk!" Joe exclaims angrily. "No…" Liz realizes, "Not invisible, just… unnoticed." "Are you saying the spell worked?" Joe asks the sheriff, and Liz suggests that they find out. She proceeds to roll her window down while reaching into the trunk and grabbing the gun they took with them. She aims out the window and begins pointing it at random pedestrians, saying she's going to shoot them. No one seems to care, and she brings herself back inside the car; "Guess it did," she concludes. "There," says Rena, shutting the book, "I knew I could be useful." "I knew you could do it," ElleBraxton tells her son as he cups fire in his hand outside their trailer. He extinguishes it by making a fist, and his mother claps proudly, kissing Rena on the forehead. TV Aficionado is then seen approaching the trailer after a hard day of work and Rena exclaims, "Dad! Dad! Look what I can do!" And then he recreates the fireball, and TV looks nervously at his son, quickly spouting, "That's… great… Honey, can I talk to you inside?" he asks his wife. Elle nods, ruffling her son's hair before heading inside the trailer with her husband. The door isn't closed properly, and Rena goes to close it, however, he begins to hear his parents talk, and he finds himself glued to the conversation. "How can you be teaching our son such things?" TV asks. "It's part of his heritage! Part of who he is!" Elle argues. "Nevertheless, it's that kind of thing that got us run out of town! We should be shutting him away from it, not perpetuating it!" "TV…" Elle utters. TV sighs, and he says, "Look… I understand how important this is to you… I just… I want our son to be able to have a proper childhood… to stop having to live as a gypsy… and that can't happen so long as we remain living in exile… magic… it's no longer a good thing." Rena continues to listen from outside the door. He makes fire in his hand… and then he extinguishes it, ashamed. He looks at his father. Tiago Smith stands within his bar in Storywik with a bunch of other survivors, including Dr. Sonya and Sannse. "There are people outside," says one of the lookouts, and Tiago heads to the window, seeing Josh, Justine and Dlrgirl wandering the streets alone. "Let them in," he orders the lookout. "Are you sure?" he asks. "Yes!" Tiago exclaims, and the door is opened. Josh, Justine and Dlr are beckoned inside, and the door is closed behind them. People are shocked to see the Evil Bureaucrat there, scythe in all, and Sannse advises Tiago to kick these people to the curb, explaining how they hindered their chances of escaping this zombie-infested hellhole. "I'm well-aware," Tiago says, "But there's no way in Tumblr that the mother of my grandchild is being left out to die!" Sannse pipes down, and Justine hugs Tiago, thanking him. "I'm surprised to see you've comprised a group of your own," Josh comments. "We have food, supplies," Tiago says. "Good," Josh nods while Dlrgirl makes her way through the crowd, ending up next to a group of people who she appears to recognize. "Excuse me," she says, "Are you the family of Tysonjackson?" They nod, and Dlr goes on to say, "I was once his genie… I saw you all through a magical device… something… bad happened to him." As they listen, Justine looks out at the group and takes a sigh of relief. Joe's car arrives outside Faneuil Hall in Boston, not that any of the hundreds of Joanna's admirers take any notice, thanks to Rena's spell. "This spell is pretty great," Liz comments, stepping out and heading to the trunk. She grabs her sword, Rena grabs the gun and Joe grabs his bow and quiver of arrows, slinging them around himself. "So… we're going to kill Joanna? Just to be clear…" says Liz. "We have to stop her," Joe replies, "Before she does something worse than just mind-meld the US." Rena nods, turning the safety off his gun, and the three of them casually slip past all of DeviousPeep's minions, heading into the Hall. They prepare themselves for Joanna's arrival, with Rena aiming his gun, Joe getting an arrow nocked and Liz raising her sword. They then hear commotion outside, and they conclude that "Your Presidency" has arrived. They wait for her to enter, and then she does, with Selena in tow. This is the first time they've seen her in person since her massive power boost, and they're a little disgusted by the sight. Joe is in the best position to kill her, readying his arrow… and then he fires. However, Peep catches it with ease before it hits her, turning to Joe and telling him, "As if a simple perception filter spell was ever going to work on me." He, Rena and Liz appear panicked. Rena is sitting behind his trailer and crying due to his parents' argument when Elle approaches, saying, "There you are. I've been looking for you. What's the matter?" "I heard you and dad yelling at each other…" Rena says, "About magic." "Oh, honey…" Elle utters, sitting down beside her son, "I know it's hard… and that's why I have to go…" "What?" Rena asks, "What do you mean?" "Rena, I've thought long and hard about this… and the only way I can stop being a hindrance and your life and your father's is if I vacate them entirely…" And now she's the one who's crying. "No," says Rena, "You can't!" "I fear I may have to…" Elle utters, "I can't… I can't deny who I am…" "But I want to be like you! I want to be magic! Mom… I want to be with you…" he cries. "Are you sure?" she asks, "You have to be sure." He nods, and she tells him, "Okay. I need to get some supplies from the market, and I'll meet you back here come nightfall. Okay?" Rena nods, understanding. "So charming…" she utters, rubbing his face, "Just like your name." He smiles and she kisses his forehead. "Come at me," Joanna says as she throws the arrow to the floor, beckoning Joe, Liz and Rena to take their best shot. Immediately, Liz runs at her, swinging her sword, but Joanna ducks under the blade swiftly, grabbing the Chat Mod's wrist and hurling her across the room. Rena grabs his gun but Joanna uses her magic to make the ammo fall out, and so Liz slides her sword across the floor for Rena to pick up. He does so, running at Peep and stabbing for her torso. She moves left when he goes right and right when he goes left. She's so fast he can't hit her. He gives up and goes for her head instead, but she limbos out of the way, hitting him in the chest with her fist and causing him to hit the other side of the room. Selena watches excitedly while Joe picks up the gun and re-adds the ammo, shooting at Joanna while crouched down on the floor. She does a series of elegant twirls which make it so that the bullets matter not, positioning herself behind Rena, who's still lying on the floor, and kicking him. Rena goes flying and hits Joe, knocking his son down. In the meantime, Liz has crawled back to her sword that Rena dropped and she runs back at Joanna. She tries slicing into her midsection but Peep grabs the blade and swipes it over her head, kicking Liz back down to the floor with her foot. Joe, with Rena having climbed off of him, runs at Peep with an arrow in his hand, hoping to stab her with it while Liz gets back up with her sword. Both of them are swiping for Peep but she just weaves between them, dodging them with ease and looking like a ballerina as she does so, moving inhumanly in order to avoid their futile attacks. Eventually, she grabs Joe's arrow and snaps it, using her magic to blast him back towards his father. She then grabs Liz's sword with both hands and begins spinning around, taking Liz off of her feet and causing her to be spun round again and again. And then Joanna lets go, and both Liz and her sword go flying in the same direction as Rena and Joe. Joanna stares at them as they sit there, defeated on the floor, and she utters simply, "Unimpressive." Rena tries once more to retrieve his gun from Joe and shoot the dominatrix down for good, but she waves her hand and he finds himself moving in slow motion, while she moves at normal speed, just watching him reach for the gun. "Bored now," she says, "You will make useful slaves." She turns around and works her magic, making ripples in the air. The dimensional pocket is open, and DeviousPeep heads on through it, allowing it to close behind her. Her magic wears off on Rena and he shoots at the wall three times in succession, sighing once he notices that Joanna is no longer standing there. But her extended magic now makes it so that rope binds each one of their wrists together. "I failed…" he utters. In flashback, young Rena is waiting outside his trailer for his mother to return from the market place. The Sun is starting to set now, and the kid utters, "Come on, mom…" ElleBraxton, meanwhile, is heading home from the market place, walking down the road that will lead back to her trailer. She is wearing a hooded travelling cloak so that nobody will recognize her, with a basket of supplies is hanging from her forearm. She hears something behind her and turns around to see black horses and a black carriage. "The Evil Bureaucrat…" she utters, quickly ducking to the side of the road in an attempt to hide behind a tree. From within his carriage, Reginafan2626 notices this, and says to himself, "Was that…?" and then he orders his driver to stop. Elle appears alarmed when the Evil Bureaucrat's carriage stops beside her, and Reginafan opens the door. "Did my carriage splash you, my dear?" he asks, putting on a fake smile. She shakes her head, keeping her face hidden by her hood, and Reginafan urges, "Don't be shy. Let me get a look at that face." He waves his hand and, with his magic, the hood comes down, and he has clear view of her. "So it is you…" he says, "ElleBraxton, is it not?" "What do you want, The Night is Dark and Full of Terrors?" she asks sternly. "So you know my true name?" he figures. "I'm well-versed in the family tree of both the magical ancestors," she assures him. "As am I," he assures her in turn, "And my copy says… you're a threat to me." "Is that so?" she asks, making a ball of fire in her hands. Reginafan laughs, snapping his fingers and making it so that two of his guards appear behind her in separate flurries of black smoke. "Seize her!" he exclaims, and both of her arms are grabbed. She struggles against the Black Mods, throwing her fire into one of their visors, causing him to back off. "Now, now…" Reginafan requests, "Please don't make this difficult." He nods to his other Mod, and he knocks ElleBraxton out with the butt of his sword. "Now then, let's take her back to the palace and deal with her properly," the Bureaucrat decrees. Rena continues to wait for his mother. The Sun has set now, and he appears bitterly disappointed. Rena is sitting on the floor beside Joe and Liz. Their wrists are bound by rope, and the former is still lamenting their failure at stopping Joanna. "Who knows what she could unleash from that… pocket… thingy?" he asks. "This wasn't your fault, dad," Joe assures him. "Wasn't it?" he asks, "I just wanted to be useful… make myself feel like I deserve it every time you call me 'dad'… but I've never been one…" "You do deserve it," Joe assures him, "And you are useful." "I wasn't there to raise you…" Rena comments. "Due to dire circumstances," Joe points out, "Ever since you've stepped back into my life, you've protected me…" "I got you shot and you ended up in another land," Rena points out in turn. "Okay, maybe so… but you're protecting me now… even though… we're tied up… I'm sorry, this whole pep-talk seemed better in my head. Point is: you're great, alright?" Rena smiles and says, "Alright." They nod to one another. "Now let's see," Rena says, "What I can do about these ropes." He focuses hard, just like his mother taught him, and his rope soon burns away, followed by Joe's and Liz's. "Great!" the latter exclaims, grabbing her sword and tossing Rena his gun as she gets to his feet. Joe picks up his bow and arrows, and DavidTennantismyAngel, who's supposed to be guarding them, yells, "Hey!" She runs towards them, but then she gets out of breath and stops, putting her hands on her thighs and breathing heavily. "See ya'," Joe tells her, exiting the Hall with Liz and Rena. Thanks to the latter's spell, people continue to not notice them (unlike with Selena, whose attention had already been garnered due to the fight with Peep), and they head back to the car together. Rena smiles on his way. Rena frowns in flashback as the following morning his father is telling him that his mother left them, and they're going to be starting a blacksmithing business from now on. ElleBraxton, meanwhile, has been severely bludgeoned and weakened, and is dragged by two of the Bureaucrat's Black Mods to a chopping block, there to undergo a public execution. "Doesn't that sound great? We'll be able to move back into a proper town; we won't be gypsies anymore…" Elle's head is lowered, and she doesn't have the strength to fight back. The crowd cheers, eagerly awaiting her death. "But if we're to have a proper second chance," TV Aficionado continues, "You're going to have to forget everything your mother taught you…" "I, Reginafan2626, Bureaucrat of the Once Upon a Time Wiki, hereby sentence ElleBraxton… to death." The cheers grow more and more raucous. "I'm going to teach you everything I know about being a blacksmith… but you can never do magic again… do you understand?" The executioner raises his huge axe, reading to swing it down. ElleBraxton closes her eyes, terrified for death. Rena nods in reply to his father. "I understand," he says, "I'm to forget mother." He looks angry. Angry that she never came back for him. Reginafan2626 laughs as the axe finally drops. In the present, Joanna has just walked through the dimensional pocket and finds herself in a stone labyrinth, lighting her way with a ball of white which rests in her palm. She makes her way up some stone steps, and then she's standing on a platform. As she as she makes that last step, the entirety of what's in front of her is lit up. A chamber, containing thousands upon millions upon billions of creatures. They're like insects, but giant. Vicious-seeming. Sleeping, for now, but her presence waits them up, and a disgusting clicking noise is made. "Mantizoids," DeviousPeep says, "Just like the legends foretold." One of the Mantizoids uses its wings to fly up and stand opposite her on its six massive legs. "You have freed us from our enchanted slumber," it says in a horrible voice, "How can this army be of use to you, mistress?" For the first time since she entered this state of being, Joanna smiles. Category:Season 3 Category:Episodes Category:Rena Charming-Centric